Chicken and mortadella agnolotti del plin
Agnolotti del plin hails from Piedmont, where I lived for a year. This meat-£lled pasta was one
of the £rst dishes I ate upon my arrival, and the dish I continued to eat at every opportunity
throughout the year. ‘Plin’ means ‘pinch’ in Piedmontese dialect and it’s this movement that
I¬£nd most satisfying. Traditionally, the agnolotti are £lled with the left-over meats from
another local dish, bollito misto, and served in the avoursome broth from the boiled meats
(see page 158). I’ll often fail to go the whole hog and skip to something more approachable,
such as this chicken and mortadella combo. Scott Williams, a friend and one of the best
pasta chefs I know, gave me this £lling recipe and, truthfully, it sits better with the Australian
weather. I¬know that making £lled pasta can be a little daunting but, really, this one is just
a fold, trim, pinch and cut.
If your stock is lacking richness, you can brown the butter before adding the stock.
It will give your sauce a deeper avour.
Every time I enjoy agnolotti – made traditionally or not – it transports me back to the
streets of Bra and to that magical year of really living.
Serves 4 (or 2 greedy people)
250 g chicken mince
150 g sliced mortadella
60 g (¾ cup) grated Parmigiano
Reggiano, plus extra to serve
3 tablespoons nely
snipped chives
1 egg
sea salt and freshly ground
blackpepper
Tipo 00 our, for dusting
250 ml (1 cup) good-quality
chicken stock
3 tablespoons salted butter,
roughly chopped
about 10 sage leaves
FRESH EGG PASTA DOUGH FOR 4
164
Place the chicken mince, mortadella, Parmigiano Reggiano,
chives, egg and a generous pinch of salt and pepper in a food
processor. Blitz for about 2 minutes, until you have a wellcombined
lling, then set aside in the fridge while you make
your pasta. Friends, this lling can be made up to 2 days ahead.
The key to successful stued pasta is to keep your pasta really
fresh so it seals itself, so it’s best to work in batches to prevent
the dough from drying out. Follow the instructions for rolling
out the dough on page 38, until your pasta is 1 mm thick.
Lay a pasta sheet on a lightly oured work surface with a long
edge facing you. Along the centre of the sheet, dot evenly
spaced half teaspoon pieces of lling, keeping them roughly
3cm apart. See overleaf for a visual guide.
Your pasta should be sticky enough, but if you nd that it has
dried out a bit, dip your nger in water and run it along the top
edge of the dough to moisten it, which will help it stick together.
Fold the bottom edge of the pasta over the lling and seal,
taking care to squeeze out any air as you press along the top.
With a long sheet of pasta like this, I nd it easier to do this
working from right to left, or left to right, to ensure that the
sheet evenly reaches over the lling.
Trim the top edge of the folded pasta about 5 mm–1 cm above
the lling, preferably using a uted pastry cutter for a pretty,
frilly edge to neaten things up.
Now that your lling is neatly covered, here comes the ‘plin’
part. Pinch either side of the lling using both your forengers
and thumbs, much like a crab-claw pincer movement, ensuring
that you remove any air. Work your way down the line, pinching
between all the llings. Pinch, pinch, pinch. See, while it’s
delicate work, it’s very satisfying.